Urban Hawker in New York: Anthony Bourdain had the idea. How did this Singapore street-food market in New York turn out?

[Singapore Hawker Culture transplanted to New York]

Poached chicken rice from Hainan Jones at Urban Hawker in New York, on Jan 9, 2023.
Rachel Vanni/The New York Times

January 23, 2023


NEW YORK — Some people get excited each time New York City puts in a bid to host the Olympics. Not me. I think, “Who needs it?” The attention the Games bring may be helpful for Beijing, Tokyo, Paris, Los Angeles and other small, easily overlooked cities. But all I can think about is the traffic.

One plan I did support was the idea of building a sort of Olympic Village in Manhattan where top competitors from around the world could show off their speed and grace before cheering spectators. I refer, of course, to Bourdain Market, a gargantuan food hall that would have been modelled on the hawker centres of Singapore.

A Better Penguin Parade

We had previously, in 2018, had a tour to Phillip Island to catch the nightly Penguin Parade.

It was a "once in a lifetime experience"! That's what I say whenever I have an experience, and then say, "never again! Once in this lifetime is enough!"

The Penguin Parade of Phillip Island is a once in a lifetime event. 

If you're lucky or smart, you might even manage to skip it in this lifetime.

If the point is to get a really good view of penguins, the Penguin Parade at Asahiyama Zoo would be more satisfying!

The Great Waterfall Road: Hiking Japan's Oirase Gorge as seasons change

[Note: This is a news article, not my personal experience. This is now on my list to visit. And then Covid... Now it's on my wish list. But I am not much of a hiker. Certainly not for 5 hours!]

28 September, 2019

Our Man Hosono

Hosono-san making a HUGE snowball.

On the 22 Dec 2022, after 3 years stuck in Singapore because of the Pandemic (COVID 19), we finally left Singapore, winging our way to Japan (with a stopover at Taipei).

We flew on Scoot, a low cost carrier (a.k.a. budget airline), and we filled in the information requested by Japan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs for incoming travellers to declare their vaccination status.

I have rants about both Scoot and Japan's process (as well as Taiwan's process for transiting passengers), but I will save that for another post. 

Maybe.

This is about Hosono-san.

Why can't other airports be more like Changi?

 

As a Singaporean, trapped in Singapore for the last 3 years, I finally got to fly to Japan in Dec 2022.

With a stopover in Taipei.

The custom and immigration clearance for Taipei (even for transit passengers) and Japan (with its Covid screening measures) was hellish.